


Two Days

by Karkats_hair



Category: Hetalia - Fandom
Genre: Bad Touch Trio, Evil Character, Homestuck References, M/M, They all use human names, except Romano, school au, tomato
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-14
Updated: 2015-08-20
Packaged: 2018-04-14 16:29:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4571562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karkats_hair/pseuds/Karkats_hair
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>‘Te queiro.’<br/>‘…What?’<br/>‘I love you.’<br/>‘Yeah, I know. I’m your best friend.’<br/>‘No. Romano, you don’t seem to understand.’ ‘Ti amo.’<br/>‘Wait, like, love love?’<br/>‘Yes Roma. I love you.’<br/>Romano almost fell out of the tree. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Just a little story about two boys short time together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Getting Out Of Bed Sucks...Or not?

**Author's Note:**

> So, we were given the task to write a short story based on the themes of Othello; Love, hate, jealousy, etc.  
> It was supposed to be three pages... It ended up at 25. o.O  
> Hehe. School is a great excuse to write fanfiction. : )
> 
> Also, because it was a school piece, there's no swearing, (it was hard to write Romano without sweraing,) but if you'd like me to but some curses in the mix, i'll be happy to oblige. (There is words like hell, and bastard, but nothing bigger.)
> 
> Enjoy!! ~ C

"Roma. Rooomaaaa. Romanoooo."

"Ugh. Buzz off Tonio." The sleeping boy's eyes shot open. "Antonio?! What the- Why are you in my house?! Why are you in my bedroom?!"

Antonio just smiled. Romano sighed and rolled over.

"Leave me alone, you bastard. Why did you wake me up?"

"It's Monday."

"And?"

"And you're late for school, Roma."

"So?"

"So, you need to go to school."

"Why?"

"Roma."

"I'm not going to that hell."

"Romano."

He groaned loudly and rolled over onto his stomach. "Fine. Now get out."

"Thank you Roma."

Romano stuck up his middle finger and the other boy just laughed. "If you're not dressed in five minutes, I'm coming in."

Okay, just because he'd taken a few days off school the week before, doesn't mean he needed Antonio to get him out of bed.

"Tonio, do I really have to?" He whined, leaning against the door.

"Roma, you've got three minutes until I come back in, and if you're not at least dressed by then..."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." He wandered over to his dresser and pulled out his school uniform. The ugly pieces of cloth were the worst things he had ever owned; plaid pants and v-neck vest thing, complete with gross black tie. He reluctantly pulled them on.

The door burst open. "I hope you're decent Roma."

"Stuff you." Romano was struggling in vain to flatten down a stubborn curl in his hair.

"Oh no! Don't wreck it! You look so cute!"

"A guy does not call another guy 'cute' Toni. Even if they are best friends."

"Aw, so you admit that we're best friends?"

"Shut up! I didn't say that!"

"Suure."

"I didn't."

Antonio started messing with his curl, undoing all of Romano's previous hard work. He slapped his hand away.

"Get away from me bastard."

He smiled. Did the guy ever stop smiling? "Come on. It's time for school anyway. We're already half an hour late."

"What?! You sacrificed your perfect attendance record to drag my lazy butt out of bed?"

"Of course Roma. What are best friends for? Anyway, you're over-exaggerating. I miss a lot of days of school."

"Yeah right. I'd be surprised if you'd missed a day in your life."

He chuckled and they continued their walk in comfortable silence. Romano didn't live too far away from school, so it wasn't long until they reached the school gates. The whole schoolyard was silent.

"I'll see you at recess Roma."

"Later bastard."

They went their separate ways; their classes in opposite directions. Romano's first class was with his brother, Feliciano.

After their mother and brother had died in an accident, their father moved them all to Australia to live with their grandfather. After a while, their father got re-married  
and took Romano to live with them, while Feliciano stayed with his grandfather. Romano's life thereafter was a typical evil stepmother story. The two were like complete opposites because of their different upbringing; Romano, a moody introvert, Feliciano, a bubbly extrovert. However, the two still got on alright.

"Hey Feli." He sat down beside his brother.

"Roma! I haven't seen you in forever! Why are you so late?" He wrapped him in a hug, totally ignoring his brother's protests.

"It's been, like, three days."

"I know, I know. But it feels like forever."

Apparently the teacher only just noticed his arrival. She turned around and narrowed her eyes in Romano's direction.

"Mister Vargas, care to explain why you are so late?"

"I slept in."

She pursed her lips, and then went back to teaching, a sign that meant detention.

The lesson finally ended and afterwards, the ten minute detention, where Miss LaLonde had spent the whole time lecturing about the importance of an education. When he finally got out, Antonio was waiting for him. A girl named Anri was hovering around him, trying to look as attractive as possible, while he was totally oblivious to it all and just seemed to be enjoying their conversation. Romano scowled and Antonio finally noticed him standing there.

"Roma! You're finally out. Feli told me what happened. Gil and France are waiting for us."

Anri gave Romano a dirty glare as he walked away with Antonio.

After they were out of earshot, Romano groaned. "Do you even notice her trying to flirt with you?"

He laughed. "Of course I do! But she's not really my type."

"Your type? What's your type then?"

He appeared to think for a moment, before looking at Romano and laughing as he ruffed up his hair. "You!"

Romano gave him a death stare as he tried to fix his hair. He did stuff like that all the time. "So, what did you get?"

"Hm?"

"For being late."

"Oh," he laughed, "I didn't get anything! Gil made up this story about how I found a lost puppy and was returning it. Miss Harley though it was adorable and let me  
off."

The worst thing about his story is that it is actually something he would do. It was one of the many things Romano liked about his friend, as well as his always perfect hair, smile, laugh- He cut off this train of thought, just like every other time it occurred. There was no way he'd be allowed to think like that. His father expected him and his brother to marry nice, Italian **women**. A Spanish boy definitely doesn't fit under that category.

"Hey Roma, what are you thinking about? You look sad."

"Nothing." His face went red and Antonio laughed.

"You look just like a tomato!"

"Shut up."

He just laughed again. Suddenly, the laugh was cut short and Antonio was pinned to the ground by a boy with white hair laughing maniacally. Romano felt a hand on his shoulder and he spun around, straight into the chest of the school pretty boy, Francis Bonnefoy. He smiled down at Romano, who returned it as a glare.

"Gil! Get off me!" Antonio wailed, flailing his arms around. The white-haired boy, Gilbert Beilschmidt, continued his laughing as he got up off Antonio. He extended a hand and helped him up. They both brushed the dirt from themselves. Francis, Gilbert and Antonio were all in the same class this year, only by some 'mysterious' office fault though. Teachers had been trying to keep the three of them apart for years. Maybe they just finally gave up.

"Hey Roma, guess who I got grouped with for our English project?"

"Who?"

"Alfred and Elizaveta." He had a smug look on his face.

Gilbert groaned. "I can't believe you seriously got partnered with Elizaveta! I was sucking up to Miss Harley for ages!"

Francis laughed. "Gil, you would never have a chance with her. She's with Roderich."

"Who the hell would actually like that snobby nerd? Give me five minutes to remind her about the good old days and she'll leave him for sure!"

"She's changed a lot since then Gil."

"So what? I bet I could change her back!"

Everyone laughed. Gilbert thought he was the best at everything, a really arrogant guy, but still a lot of fun to be with, especially when he'd brag about something and not be able to follow it through. Romano really hated his brother, Ludwig, who was friends with Feliciano. They were almost as opposite as him and Feliciano.

Francis was often mistaken as a girl from behind. His shoulder length blonde hair fooled most people. He was always dropping pick-up lines and prided himself on being smooth and romantic. He was French and fit that stereotype almost perfectly.

A football sailed towards Antonio. He caught it easily. A blonde boy was waving to him.

"Hey, Carriedo! Dude, over here!" Alfred Jones, behind him was his brother, Matthieu. American and Canadian respectively. They looked so alike they were often mistaken as twins. Francis gave the Canadian a wave and he returned it timidly, moving a little further behind his brother. Antonio kicked the ball back to Alfred.

"Thanks bro!" He jogged off, Matthieu walking behind him. Romano's phone buzzed and he pulled it out of his pocket. 'Sissy' popped up on the screen, his brother.

'Roma! It's an emergency! Come quick!!'

'Feli? What's wrong? Where's Mr Potato Head?'

'Please just come here.'

'Fine. Where are you?'

'The cafeteria.'

'I'll be there in a minute.' He slipped the phone back into his pocket and addressed his friends, "Feli wants me to go see him. I'll be back in a minute."

They nodded and he walked off. Whenever Feliciano was in trouble, it usually didn't mean anything. But nonetheless, he rounded the corner to the cafeteria in no time, but couldn't see his brother. "Feli?" He finally spotted him standing alone in a corner and walked up to him.

"Feli? What's wrong?"

"I forgot my money and now I don't have anything to eat."

Seriously? Romano sighed, digging around in his pocket for his own money. "Here." He handed his brother a five dollar note. "I also have a sandwich in my bag if you want it at lunch."

"Oh, yes please! Thank you Roma!" He hugged his brother tightly, to which Romano just sighed.

"Where's macho potato?"

"Luddy? He went home sick. But I still have Kiku!" He waved over to a Japanese boy walking down a set of stairs in the distance. "You do know Gilbert's his brother, right? He likes potatoes too."

"I know that."

"Then why don't you like Ludwig?"

"I just don't, okay?"

Feliciano sighed, knowing he was fighting a losing battle he had already fought. Romano stayed with him until Kiku arrived, then left to go back to his friends. Or class, whatever came first; it was almost bell time. He walked slowly, his laziness not wanting him to walk all the way to his friends and then to his class on the other side of the school; another class where he had to put up with his brother. He should have just stayed in the cafeteria with him.

The bell went just as his friends came into view. He groaned loudly. They noticed him and waved before walking off to their next class together. Romano headed to his. He took the long way to his class, hoping to avoid the usual group of bullies that always skipped sport. Unfortunately, he wasn’t so lucky.

“Hey, pasta brain!”

He ignored it and kept walking.

“Hey-a! I-a was-a talking-a to-a you-a!”

He gritted his teeth, cringing at the terrible mockery of his accent. You’d think going to an international school would keep you safe from racism, at least from your own classmates. He spun around.

“Aw, had to get your little boyfriend to walk you to school?”

“He’s not my boyfriend.”

“Keep saying that. We all know you’re lying. And what happens to liars?”

“Probably nothing anywhere near as bad as what would happen to a gay guy.”

A tall boy with pointy teeth, Vladmir, sneered. “Oh, we don’t care if you’re gay, you just can’t be gay for Antonio. Anri here,” he patted the shoulder of the girl in front of him, “has dibs. Keep your grubby paws away from him.”

“I don’t like Antonio! Leave me alone!” He stormed off, walking straight past his class. He climbed up one of the tall trees at the back of the school, something he always did when he was angry, upset or just felt like skipping class.

“Stupid jerks. Stupid Spanish bastard. Stupid school. Stupid, stupid, stupid!”

The branches were strong and easily supported his weight. His phone suddenly buzzed in his pocket, distracting him from his rant. ‘Tomato’ appeared on his lock screen.

“Great, just who I didn’t want to talk to.” He swiped the screen anyway. He had a few messages.

‘Hey Roma.’ ‘Romano?’ ‘Roma? Where are you? I texted Feli to see if you’d made it to class alright, but apparently you never showed up. Please message me. :(‘

Typical Antonio. Too caring for his own good. It was going to come back and bite him one day, like it already was for Romano. Everyone loved Antonio. Girls swooned over him and every guy wanted his attention. Romano pulled up another contact by the name of ‘Sissy’.

‘Feliciano, what did you do?’

‘Roma? Tony’s looking for you!’

‘I know.’

‘Where are you?’

‘Nowhere. Why did you tell him I wasn’t in class?’

‘Because… you aren’t?’

‘I know! That doesn’t mean you have to tell him that!’

‘Why? What’s the big deal?’

‘Ugh. Nevermind. Why did I even message you?’

He stuck his phone back in his pocket, ignoring the next few buzzes. Great, now what? He was just going to come down at Lunch and pretend he had been in class, now he’s going to have to totally disappear to avoid Twenty Questions with Antonio. Maybe it would be better to just face the music. He pulled out his phone, ignoring the fifty messages from his brother, and brought up the ‘Tomato’ contact again.

‘Hey Tonio.’

‘Roma! You had me so worried!’

‘You don’t have to mother me.’

‘Where are you? Why didn’t you go to class?’

‘It doesn’t matter.’

‘Yes, Romano. It does.’

‘Why do you care so much about my education anyway! Do you even care about me? Am I just some project for you to fix?’

It was a while before he felt another buzz, long enough to let Romano calm down a bit. By this point he was in tears, looking at the screen through blurred vision.

‘Roma.’ ‘I do care about you.’ ‘A lot.’

‘Yeah right. Maybe you should hang out with my brother or something instead. He’s everything I’m not.’

‘Exactly, Roma.’ ‘I don’t want your brother, I want you.’

‘Why? He’s better than me in every way.’

‘Roma, I…’ ‘Te queiro.’

‘…What?’

‘I love you.’

‘Yeah, I know. I’m your best friend.’

‘No. Romano, you don’t seem to understand.’ ‘Ti amo.’

‘Wait, like, love love?’

‘Yes Roma. I love you.’

Romano almost fell out of the tree. _He-he what? He loves me?_

‘Roma?’ ‘Roma?’ ‘Romano?’ ‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.’ ‘Please say something…’ ‘Roma…’

Oops. He completely forgot to actually text back.

‘Ti amo, Toni.’

‘Where are you?’

‘…’

‘Roma, please.’

‘By the trees at the back.’

‘I’ll be there ASAP.’

_What just happened?_ He climbed back down the tree. Antonio’s class wasn’t far away, so he got there quickly. He immediately wrapped Romano up in a tight hug.

“Ah, Toni, I can’t breathe!”

He reluctantly let go and they stood in awkward silence for a while. Romano broke it. Not the awkward though, just the silence.

“So… Did you- Um, do you actually… Um, do you actually mean it?” That could have gone better. He mentally cringed.

“That I love you? Yeah, Roma. I do.”

“Oh.”

They both shuffled awkwardly.

“Um… Do… Do you?”

“Oh, right. Yeah, I do.”

“That’s… good.”

“Yep.”

Antonio laughed nervously. “Roma, you look like a tomato.”

Romano returned the laughed. “That’s a bit hypocritical Toni. You should see yourself.”

More silence, more shuffling. Eventually, Romano sat down against the base of the tree, burying his face in his knees. Antonio joined him.

“I never knew you were gay, Roma.”

“What?”

“I always though you liked Anri.”

“Anri?! Why her?”

He laughed. “You were always giving her funny looks.”

“Yeah, because she’s disgusting. Besides, she’s not my type.”

“Am I your type?”

This made Romano’s blush deepen. “I hate you.”

“Hm… I’m pretty sure you just confessed your love to me.”

“What? You did it first!”

“Yes. I did. Four times before you did. In three different languages. And then you didn’t say anything.”

“I’m sorry. I was still a little, stunned, you know?”

“Oh, I certainly know.” He smiled warmly, which Romano returned.

“How do you know how to say ‘I love you’ in Italian anyway?”

Antonio held up his phone. “Google knows all!”

They both laughed, followed by some more, less awkward silence.

“So… Us, huh?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Antonio laughed again. “You know, Gil and France have been trying to get us together for ages.”

“Really?”

“Yep. I told them I liked you a while ago. Big mistake.”

It was Romano’s turn to laugh. “I can imagine. Why did it even pop into your head to tell them?”

He shrugged. “They’re my best friends. After you of course, but I couldn’t exactly tell you, now could I?”

“You could have.”

“Yeah, well I wasn’t exactly expecting a warm response from you. And the response I got wasn’t about to melt the polar ice caps.” He said bitterly, which made  
Romano feel terrible.

“Sorry. I kind of forgot to text back.”

“I know.” He put his arm over Romano’s shoulder, pulling him closer. “I was on the verge of tears in the middle of class because of you.”

Romano blushed again. “Sorry.”

Antonio kissed his forehead and the bell rang for Lunch. “Mr Strider is going to kill me for not going back to class.” He pushed himself off the ground, putting a hand out for Romano. He accepted, brushing the dirt off himself. Then he noticed a familiar face glaring at him from behind Antonio, a boy with gravity-defying hair, Abel, and his little sister, Anri. Antonio noticed Romano looking past him and turned around. Then he did one of the worst possible things Romano decided he could have done in this situation. He _waved_. The pair came over, Anri’s smile faker than any Romano had ever seen.

“Hey Toni.” She said, twirling her hair around her finger.

“Hi guys.”

“What are you doing out here already? Lunch only just started.”

Antonio just shrugged. “We got let out already. Besides, I could ask you guys the same thing.”

“We skipped.”

“I only skipped the last half.” Abel added quickly. He usually wasn’t one for missing school.

Antonio tsked, shaking his head.

“Oh, don’t pretend like you boys are any better! Yeah right you **both** get let out early. No-one else from the rest of your classes is out yet. You lover boys skipped too!” Anri spat. Her brother hit her arm lightly, glaring at her.

“Sorry,” he said, looking genuinely embarrassed at his sister’s outburst.

Antonio smiled awkwardly. “O…Kay. Uh, we have to go do that thing now. With Gil and Francis.” He spun around quickly. Romano followed suit, but made the mistake of looking back. Abel was lecturing his sister rather angrily, but Anri wasn’t listening to a word of it. She was too busy glaring daggers at Romano. He turned back around, resisting all urges to turn around again.

When they were definitely out of earshot, Antonio sighed. “I feel so sorry for Abel. Having to deal with a sister like her. I don’t know why he keeps putting up with her.”

“Yeah.” Romano’s response was distant, but Antonio didn’t seem to notice. He just couldn’t get Anri’s face out of his head.


	2. Making Friends Is A Shitty Way To Die

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternately titled: The Yandere Is Strong In This One

Romano was relieved when they finally got to Gilbert and Francis.

“Wow, Tonio. What took you so long?” Francis said, looking at the two of them.

“Yeah. I had to tell Mr Strider you were sick and going to lie down for a bit.”

“Sorry about that.”

Romano felt an arm around his waist and he was pulled closer to Antonio, who kissed his cheek. He stiffened and tomato mode activated again. Gilbert and Francis were both clapping.

“C-Can you let me go?”

Antonio seemed a little surprised, but let go anyway. They usually did stuff like that all the time.

“What’s wrong Roma?”

“Nothing.”

He gave him a worried look before turning back to the others and shrugging. Then he grinned, leaning on Gilbert’s shoulder. “You know Anri, right?”

“The Belgian chick with the scary brother? Francis’ cousin?”

“Yeah, that’s her. And Abel isn’t scary when you get to know him. Anyway, she totally spazzed out at us!”

“What? Why?” Francis gave Romano a worried look. He knew how horrible Anri could be.

“Isn’t she head-over-heels for you?”

Antonio shrugged. “She yelled at us about skipping class.”

Francis scoffed. “She has no right to do that. She has the worst grades in the whole family. She barely ever goes to class herself.”

“Oh yeah? And who does have the best grades?” Gilbert laughed, knowing full well the answer wasn’t going to be Francis.

“Abel.” He glared at Gilbert, but it quickly turned into a creepy grin. It took Romano a moment to figure out why. He was looking behind Gilbert, at Alice, the moody British girl he’d had his sights set on for a while. 

Gilbert laughed again, clapping Francis on the back. “Good luck, Francey-pants. I’ll time how long it takes for her to run away this time!”

Francis shot him a glare before quickly regaining his composure and strutting over to her. They were too far away to hear their conversation. Gilbert kept his eyes on his watch, waiting for her to leave, just like she had every other time Francis had tried to talk to her.

“Woohoo! Seven miutes! A personal best!” Gilbert yelled as Francis came wandering back.

“Oh shut it, bird-brain. I think I’m getting through to her.” He smiled and the bell rang; time for Art class. This was one of the only classes Romano had with the three, so they walked off together this time. Romano didn’t really know why Antonio did Art class, he was absolutely horrible at it. He once tried to help Francis with one of his paintings, and, well, Francis wouldn’t talk to him for a month.

At any rate, Romano was glad to have at least one class with Antonio. Better yet, Feliciano wasn’t in this class. As if on cue, Romano’s phone buzzed. He pulled it out of his pocket. ‘Sissy.’ There was a lot of missed messages from earlier.

‘Rrrrrrroooooooommmmmmmmmmaaaaaaannnnnnnooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!’

‘Yo.’

‘Roma!’

‘I hope you don’t expect me to read all those messages, because I’m not going too.’

‘Why weren’t you answering?’

‘I was with Antonio.’

‘Oh. I… guess that’s alright. Are you okay?’

‘Yeah. Thanks lil’ bro.’

‘=)’

‘Alright, get back to class.’

‘You too. =) =) =)’

He slipped the phone away.

“Feli?” Antonio asked.

“Yeah.”

They all took their usual seats in class. Romano next to Antonio, Gilbert and Francis on his other side. There was the usual empty seat beside Romano. The teacher, Mrs. Leijon, walked in, followed by some more students. Romano jumped as the seat beside him scraped backwards. He blinked in surprise at the boy who sat there. Abel.

“What are you staring at Italy?”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Sorry. Romano, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Sorry about my sister. She can get a little out of hand sometimes.”

Romano shrugged. He actually like Abel, admired him even. But his sister totally ruins his image. “Why do you put up with her?”

It was his turn to shrug. “I have to. She’s my responsibility.”

Romano felt a pang of anger. At Abel for not standing up for himself, at Anri for making he feel responsible for her. “No, she’s not. She’s your sister. You shouldn’t feel responsible for how she acts. She shouldn’t make you feel responsible for her. Why do you feel responsible for her?”

“I pity her.”

“Well, you shouldn’t! You have no reason to pity her. She inflicts her horribleness on other people.”

“You too, huh?”

“What?”

“People hate me because of her.”

“What? I don’t hate you, I hate her! I like you!”

He blinked in surprise. “You… don’t hate me?”

“No, of course not. And as far as I know, most people don’t. Stop seeing yourself as an extension of your sister. You not like her at all.”

“If they don’t hate me, then why do they avoid me?”

“They’re scared of you.”

“Scared of me? Are you?”

“Yeah, a bit.”

“Why are people scared of me?” He looked hurt.

“You don’t smile and this is the most I’ve ever heard you talk. But it’s not even that. It’s because you’re always flanked by Anri.”

He sighed. “That makes sense.” He started doodling on the piece of paper in front of him, a sad look on his face. Romano felt terrible. He had a bad habit of not thinking before he spoke.

“Hey, uh, I’m sorry Abel. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

As if the day couldn’t get any stranger, Abel looked up at Romano, and he was smiling. Romano almost fell off his chair.

“Are you kidding? Thanks Italy, you’ve really opened my eyes.”

“Romano.”

“Romano. Sorry.”

An idea popped into his head. “If… If you want, you can hang out with us at Lunch and stuff.” The way he saw it, if Abel was around, Anri wouldn’t touch him. Plus,  
Abel seemed like a pretty cool guy.

“Seriously?” The smile had faded.

“Yeah. Of course.”

“I’ll… think about that. Thanks.” He smiled again for a moment, but the teacher cleared her throat to begin the lesson, and he dropped it again. Romano found himself smiling as well. Dammit, Antonio’s happy, charitable behavior was rubbing off on him.

“What was that about?” Antonio whispered.

“Nothing. I’ll tell you later.”

Antonio smiled, squeezing his hand under the table before letting it go again.

The rest of the lesson went smoothly, unless you count Antonio’s terrifying drawing of a turtle. It was the scariest thing Romano had ever seen, and he’d seen Anri’s death stare. The classroom emptied quickly. Romano waved goodbye to Abel and kept walking with the rest of his friends. They parted at the gates, Francis getting on a bus and Gilbert walking the opposite way to Antonio and Romano. 

The way home was fairly clear. Their class had been kept in for a while, so only a few stragglers were left on the path.

“What was all that in class?” Antonio questioned.

“With Abel?”

He nodded and Romano shrugged.

“Let’s just say your bad habits are rubbing off on me.”

That response confused the other boy, as he stared off into the distance for a while. Eventually, the confusion became too much for him.

“What?”

Romano smirked. “You’ll see tomorrow.”

Antonio pouted. He didn’t like waiting, especially if he didn’t know what he was waiting for. They came to an intersection, the place where they’d go their separate  
ways. Antonio grabbed Romano’s hands and kissed his forehead. “Te quiero, Roma.”

He blushed. “Ti amo, bastard.”

Antonio laughed and started walking off. He turned and waved back at Romano, who returned it. They both kept walking.

The next day, Romano had managed to drag his lazy butt out of bed himself, and made it to school at a reasonable time. AKA, the bell rang as soon as he stepped foot inside the school yard. He went to class alone. Feliciano wasn’t there, so he was even alone during class as well. He willed the bell to ring, and eventually it did. He jumped out of his seat and out the door as quickly as he could, and started walking to where he’d usually meet his three friends. Someone joined him on the way.

“I guess you thought it over then?”

“Yeah. Getting away from her should be good for me.”

“Will. Not should.”

Abel smiled weakly. “Do they know I’m with you?”

“No.”

“Oh, then maybe I should, um, wait until you tell them.”

“What? Why?”

“Um, well, it’s just… Nobody has really wanted to be my friend before.”

Romano looked at him in surprise. “Really? Well, now they have.”

Abel smiled uncertainly. “Thanks.”

Romano spotted his three friends. Antonio saw him and waved, but it faltered somewhat when he noticed Abel. All three of them watched as the other two walked over to them.

“Hey guys.” Romano said casually. “I brought a friend.”

There was a moment of awkward silence before Antonio grinned, shaking Abel’s hand. “Good to see you!”

Abel nodded. Wow, this guy wasn’t kidding when he said he’d never had friends before. His social skills were practically non-existent. Romano nudged him.

“Oh, um, hi.”

Romano sighed. Gilbert laughed and clapped him on the back, catching him by surprise and almost knocking him over. “Lighten up dude! We’re not going to bite. Probably.”

Abel smiled weakly.

“A warning would have been nice though, Romano.” Francis smiled at his cousin.

Throughout Recess, Abel seemed to grow more and more comfortable around the group. He actually seemed upset when the bell rang.

“Don’t worry, we’ll still be here at Lunch.” Gilbert joked, noticing the expression on Abel’s face. He brightened.

“Really? You guys actually want me to stay with you?”

“Of course! Did you really think we would kick you out?”

He smiled. “Thanks.”

“What class have you got?” Romano asked.

“English.”

No-one else had English, but it was in the same direction as Romano’s class, so they walked together.

“So, what did you think?”

“What?”

“About being around people other than Anri.”

“It… It was great.”

Romano smiled. He could really see why Antonio loved doing stuff that made people happy.

“I forgot you hang out with my cousin.”

“I forgot you two were cousins.”

Romano got to his class and Abel kept walking.

“See you at Lunch Romano!”

He nodded. “Just go straight to where we were before.”

 

Romano ended up in detention again because he forgot his homework. When it was over, he headed towards where his friends would be. He came across Abel on the way and the talked for a while. Apparently, Anri didn’t even know about Abel’s desertion. She was at home ‘sick’. Abel had accompanied the last part with air quotes.  
Abel started off rather uncomfortable again, but warmed up quickly. They all had the next class together and before they knew it, the day was over. Romano headed straight for his room, passing out on his bed before he could even change out of his uniform.

 

Romano woke to a gentle shaking. Someone was saying his name.

“Roma? Are you awake?”

He groaned and opened his eyes to glare. “No.”

Feliciano sat on his bed anyway. “That’s a lie brother. Your eyes are open.”

Romano sat up. He didn’t have the energy to be bothered arguing with his brother. “What do you want?”

He shrugged. “Just checking in.”

“Why didn’t you call or something first?”

“I did. You weren’t answering your phone.”

“I was asleep. You just witnessed that.”

“Why were you so tired?”

He shrugged. “Just because.”

Feliciano sighed. “Antonio’s crazy about you, you know.”

“What?”

“He loves you. I can see it in the way he looks at you. The way he acts, how worried he gets. And I don’t mean in a just friends kind of way.”

Romano leaned up to his brother. “Do you want to know a secret little bro?”

Feliciano leaned in a bit closer. “Of course.”

“Antonio and I are together.”

Feliciano gasped. “Like, together together?”

Romano nodded and his brother squealed, hugging him tightly. He laughed. “Looks like Dad isn’t getting any grandkids then,”

Romano smiled, then the full force of what his brother said hit him. “Wait, you too?”

He nodded. “No grandkids for Dad.”

“He is going to be so mad.”

“Yeah.”

“Is it Ludwig?”

Feliciano nodded.

“Well, if that potato ever hurts you, send him straight to me.”

He laughed. “Will do.”

Romano’s phone buzzed in his pocket. There was no contact number on the screen though, just numbers. He showed the screen to his brother.

“Who’s that?”

“I was hoping you’d know.”

Feliciano took another look at the number, and then shook his head. Romano unlocked the phone and pulled up his messages.

‘Romano? Is this you?’

“What do I say?” Romano looked up at his brother, who shrugged unhelpfully.

‘Why? What do you want from him?’

‘It’s Abel.’

‘How did you get my number?’

‘Antonio.’

‘Oh. What’s up?’

‘I’d like you to come to my house.’

‘What? Why?’

‘Why not? We’re friends right?’

‘Yeah we are, but I’m going to need more info than that.’ ‘I don’t even know where you live.’

‘Oh, right. [address].’

Romano glanced up confusedly at his brother.

“Abel? What’s going on?”

“I’m… Not quite sure.”

“It’s not too far from Luddy’s.”

“Do you want to walk with me? I’ll drop you off there.”

He nodded.

Romano added the number to his contacts as his brother got out his own phone. Romano jumped up quickly to get changed into something more appropriate than his school uniform. Which could have been pretty much anything.

“He said it’s fine.”

Romano climbed out his window. He couldn’t be bothered dealing with his dad. “Good. Are you coming or not?”

Feliciano followed him out. “Why didn’t you use the door? You know, like a normal person.”

“I want to avoid the witch.”

His brother nodded. He hadn’t spent all that much time around her, but that time had still been plenty. Romano’s phone buzzed again. It was Abel.

‘Romano?’

‘Yeah?’

‘Are you coming or not? You never said.’

‘Yeah.’

‘Okay. Cool. See you then.’

‘Yeah.’

He put the phone back in his pocket.

“Did you seriously just type three ‘yeah’s in a row?”

“You bet.”

Eventually they got to Ludwig’s house. Gilbert was waving like a mad man from behind Ludwig, who was standing in the doorframe, clearly trying to keep his brother inside. Romano waved back as he kept walking.

By the time he reached the street sign, Romano was fed up. It’s not like he was unfit or anything, he was just too lazy to walk that far. Luckily, Abel’s house was close to this end of the street. He knocked on the door and waited, but instead of being answered by the tall boy he’d expected, he was greeted by a sharp pain in the back of his head, followed up by complete darkness.

 

Romano found himself lying on a hard wooden floor with an extreme headache. He groaned and rolled over, a bad move in hindsight; sharp pangs of pain haunted his every move.

“Ah, good. I was worried I’d actually killed you.”

Romano’s eyes snapped open. He knew that voice. His eyes fell on the one person he really didn’t want to see. Anri sat on a couch in front of him, staring down at him smugly.

“What-“ He cringed at the pain as he tried to sit up. “What do you want?”

She laughed, a really horrible screeching noise that really didn’t help Romano’s head. “What do I want? Heh, you know, I thought you were smart. You’ve been asleep for nearly an hour.”

“I don’t care. Let me go.”

“Hm… No. I don’t think so. I can’t believe you actually fell for my trick.” She held up two phones, one that was clearly his, and one that must have been Abel’s. He  
patted the spot where his phone should be nonetheless. To no-one’s surprise, it was gone.

“You still haven’t told me what’s going on. Don’t all villains reveal their plots to their victims?”

“They do, but I don’t have a plot.”

“A motive then?”

“Oh, I had every intention of telling you that.” She smirked.

“Go for it then.” Romano tried to stand, but an intense pain in his ankle stopped him.

“Yeah. Sorry not sorry. Did I mention how heavy you are?”

“No, because I’m not heavy, you’re just weak.”

She scowled. Romano probably wasn’t in any position to be talking back, but he returned the scowl anyway.

“Are you going to get to that motive anytime soon? Or is this staring contest enough for you?”

She blinked angrily. “Wow, you’re even more annoying than I expected.”

Romano shrugged, a smile settling on his face. “Thanks. You know, we probably could have been pretty good friends. That is, if you weren’t so demonic.”

She scowled and got up, returning with an apple. “Hungry?”

“Not particularly. Your disgusting face kind of put me off eating.” 

A quick flash and Romano felt something cold against his neck. He made a conscious effort not to swallow. Anri was holding a knife to his throat.

“I don’t think you quite understand the situation here, Romano.” She whispered in his ear. After a while, she withdrew the knife and went back to her place on the couch.

Romano swallowed. “So, uh, if Abel didn’t invite me, where is he?” He was the tiniest bit afraid she might have done something to his new friend.

“He’s at work. Pretty stupid to leave his phone behind though.”

“What was the point in all this again?”

“I never said it.”

“Oh, yeah, right. So, about that…”

“First, you steal Antonio from me, then, you steal my own brother!”

“Okay, first of all, I did not ‘steal’ Antonio. He was never yours, nor is he mine. He is his own person with his own thoughts and feelings and no-one owns him, so he  
can’t be stolen. Same thing goes for your brother. He left you because you are a horrible person and a horrible influence on him.”

She looked like she was about to explode. She was back with the knife against his throat, but this time, she actually cut him. Not much, just enough to break the skin. “Promise me Antonio and I’ll let you go.”

Romano raised his hand slowly, pointing to the blade. He obviously couldn’t promise anything with a knife to his throat. She took it away and stood up, walking to a nearby window. His hand flew to the cut.

“Are you insane!?”

“Maybe.”

“Yeah right! I can’t promise you Antonio! You know what he’s like, he wouldn’t leave it alone. And what would I tell him then? Sorry, I had to break up with you because that creepy chick who won’t leave you alone kidnapped me and tried to kill me? He’s not exactly about to come running to you after that, is he?”

She screamed and charged at him. Romano braced for the worst, getting ready to roll to the side and jump up as quickly as possible at the last minute. He suddenly felt a large weight on top of him, blocking his vision. He closed his eyes. He must have missed something. Did she teleport or something? He waited for the sharp pain of her knife, but it didn’t come. He opened his eyes and saw something jarring.

Antonio was barely holding himself up over him, a pained expression on his face.

“TONI?!”

“Hey… Roma…” He collapsed on top of him, coughing. Romano wrapped his arms tightly around he other boy. Then he got his first glimpse of Antonio’s attacker. 

Anri sat on her knees, wide eyed and staring at her hands. The knife sat beside her, covered in Antonio’s blood. He turned his attention back to the injured boy.

“Hey. Toni. Stay with me okay? We’ll get you help, won’t we, Anri?”

Anri didn’t move.

“Anri? We’ll get him help.”

“Y-You…”

“What?”

“You!” She stared at him with a fierce determination.

“A-Anri. Antonio’s hurt. Call an ambulance.”

“You made me do this!” She pushed Antonio away and leaned over Romano so he couldn’t move. The knife was back in her hands.

“Anri, listen. You don’t have to do this. Give me my phone and I’ll call an ambulance. If you get out of here, I’ll leave you out of the story. Come on Anri. You can save  
Toni. Give me the phone.”

“I-I…” She looked so lost and confused. Then she shook her head, readying the knife.

“A-Anri, please. Y-You need to help Antonio. I-I-I hurt him. You need ti get him help.”

“You’re lying! I hurt him! It was me! It was your fault!” She plunged the knife down into Romano’s chest.

White hot pain exploded throughout his entire body.

“O-Oh my god. W-What have I d-done? I-I…”

Romano’s eyes were clenched shut, but he could imagine Anri the same way she was before.

“Roma?”

“Yeah?”

“Are…Are you okay?”

“About as okay… as you.”

“Oh…So…Not good then.”

“Nope.”

Romano could hear sirens. They sounded far off.

“How did you find… me?”

“Gil… I asked him… if he knew why you… weren’t answering your phone. He… asked Feli where you’d… been going. He… knew Abel was at work… so I knew some…  
thing wasn’t right.”

“Why did you do that?”

Antonio smiled. “Te quiero, Roma… Te quiero with… all my heart.”

Romano managed a weak laugh. “That’s what got us… into this mess… in the first place.” He coughed, spitting up blood.

Antonio reached his hand out to Romano, who took it. “At least… we’re in this… together… I love you… Romano.”

“Ti amo… Antonio.”

Darkness was encroaching on his vision. Antonio was smiling, eyes closed. Romano closed his too, smiling back at the love of his life. He couldn’t feel the pain anymore. All he could feel was Antonio. Antonio was there beside him. He’d been willing to die for him. Romano always knew his caring would come back to bite him.

“Toni… amore.”

He let the darkness take him. Everything felt right. Everything felt peaceful. Everything…went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I DON'T KNOW HOW TO WRITE PEOPLE DYING!!
> 
> I wasn't actually planning on making Anri go insane... It just kind of flowed, I guess.
> 
> I was thinking about writing another bonus chapter, on what would have happened if Anri had given Romano the phone... Does this sound like a good idea?


End file.
